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Yorktown in York County, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)
 

Second Allied Siege Line

Colonial National Historical Park

 
 
Second Allied Siege Line Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Bill Coughlin, August 12, 2008
1. Second Allied Siege Line Marker
Inscription.
At the present distance of our batteries … they might fire till Christmas without materially lessening the enemy’s force …. I am impatient to get nearer to the enemy, that our work may be more speedily accomplished, and our ammunition not thrown away.
Colonel Timothy Pickering, Quartermaster General, Continental Army


You are standing near the left side of the reconstructed Second Siege Line. A large portion of the line – to Cornwallis’s consternation – was constructed under the cover of darkness, October 11 and 12, 1781. At daybreak, the British saw that their enemy now had them within point-blank artillery range, just 360 yards away.
 
Erected by Colonial National Historical Park, National Park Service.
 
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Notable EventsNotable PlacesWar, US Revolutionary. A significant historical date for this entry is October 11, 1781.
 
Location. 37° 13.574′ N, 76° 30.347′ W. Marker is in Yorktown, Virginia, in York County. Marker is on Cook Road (Virginia Route 238), on the right when traveling north. Marker is located on the Yorktown Battlefield in Colonial National Historical Park, at stop C on the Battlefield Tour. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Yorktown VA 23690, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are
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within walking distance of this marker. Surrender at Yorktown (a few steps from this marker); Slabtown (within shouting distance of this marker); Shiloh Baptist Church (within shouting distance of this marker); Yorktown National Cemetery (within shouting distance of this marker); a different marker also named Shiloh Baptist Church (about 500 feet away, measured in a direct line); Grand French Battery (approx. 0.2 miles away); a different marker also named The Grand French Battery (approx. 0.2 miles away); First Allied Siege Line (approx. ¼ mile away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Yorktown.
 
More about this marker. The marker is dominated by a painting of Yorktown during the 1781 siege. Indicated in the picture are the locations of the First and Second Allied Siege Lines in relation to the marker. Gabions and facines are also identified in the picture.
The upper right of the marker contains an illustration of the siege fortifications with the caption “Following this 1762 French-military textbook method, in complete silence 750 soldiers dug the trench. One group of men broke the earth, while another threw the dirt into gabions – sturdy woven baskets – tracing the line. As the trench grew deeper, fascines – bundles of brushwood – were staked into the gabions, and all were covered with earth.”
 
Also see . . .
Marker on the Yorktown Battlefield image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Bill Coughlin, August 12, 2008
2. Marker on the Yorktown Battlefield

1. Yorktown Battlefield. National Park Service. (Submitted on August 29, 2008, by Bill Coughlin of Woodland Park, New Jersey.) 

2. The Battle of Yorktown 1781. A British perspective of the Battle of Yorktown from BritishBattles.com. (Submitted on August 29, 2008, by Bill Coughlin of Woodland Park, New Jersey.) 
 
Second Allied Siege Line at Yorktown image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Bill Coughlin, August 12, 2008
3. Second Allied Siege Line at Yorktown
Several markers are found at this location on the Second Allied Siege Lines stop on the Battlefield Tour.
Heavy Artillery on Second Allied Siege Line image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Bill Coughlin, August 12, 2008
4. Heavy Artillery on Second Allied Siege Line
These cannons, 18 and 24 pounder siege guns, are located on the siege line near the marker.
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on November 15, 2021. It was originally submitted on August 29, 2008, by Bill Coughlin of Woodland Park, New Jersey. This page has been viewed 1,063 times since then and 21 times this year. Last updated on November 7, 2021, by Bradley Owen of Morgantown, West Virginia. Photos:   1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on August 29, 2008, by Bill Coughlin of Woodland Park, New Jersey. • J. Makali Bruton was the editor who published this page.

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Mar. 29, 2024